SR4: To Live and Die in the Mile-High City

Ask an older member of the Sixth World what life was like “back in the day,” and most of them can rattle off a list of things that “built character” before technological advancements made them simple enough for a ghoul to do. Mention Denver, though, and they’ll quickly change the subject. Time was, it was like being back in the old Wild West – smugglers could run VTOLs loaded with novacoke, BTL chips, or military-grade weapons without so much as a scan. In fact, the territories in charge of maintaining order regularly commissioned runners to move illicit goods from one side of the sprawl to another. (Wait, they stopped? News to me. -NiteTyme) The party ended about twenty years ago when a resurgence of powerful spirits threatened the stability of ol’ D-Town. That’s when the Zone came into existence.

Full name the Zone Defense Force, each territory has to contribute forces to guard the downtown area. Fed money instantly left the smuggling industry and instead went to security contractors, and it became more profitable to confiscate contraband rather than move it through Denver. (The corps took a big hit in the short-term, but these days they’ve got some of the best bootleggers this side of Berlin. -Zotzz) A lovely quilt of razorwire and MAD scanners was gradually woven over the sprawl, and reliable, discreet runners have become a valuable commodity.

The air is thin up here, omae, and with all these borders, no side is safe.